Finalists Announced for the 2024 ARDC Eureka Prize for Excellence in Research Software

The Australian Museum has announced the 2024 finalists for the ARDC Eureka Prize for Excellence in Research Software. 

In its second year, the ARDC Eureka Prize recognises and celebrates those who develop and maintain software in Australia that underpins research and scientific discovery. 

The Prize is awarded for the development, maintenance or extension of software that has enabled significant new scientific research. 

Nick Jenkins, Research Software Specialist, ARDC, said, “It’s exciting to see the impressive research software developed and maintained by the finalists in the second ARDC-sponsored Eureka Prize. The software is supporting Australian researchers in biomedical science, neuroscience, engineering and more. Cutting-edge science is powered by research software and high quality data.”

The Eureka Prizes were established in 1990 by the Australian Museum to celebrate the work of Australian scientists, and how their contributions are producing world-leading results that can influence and improve the lives of many across the globe.

In 2023, the winners of the inaugural ARDC Eureka Prize for Research Software were Dr Minh Bui and Professor Robert Lanfear from The Australian National University, who combined their computer science and biology expertise to develop IQ-TREE2 – free, open-source software that turns DNA data into crucial evolutionary insights by quickly estimating the phylogenetic tree of any group of organisms.

Finalists for the ARDC Eureka Prize for Excellence in Research Software

MiniZinc Team, Monash University and OPTIMA

From 2007, the MiniZinc Team developed MiniZinc – an open-source, easy-to- learn modelling language to help engineers, mathematicians and scientists solve optimisation problems such as rostering, scheduling and resource allocation. It allows the quick generation of solutions, and the ability to try different methods for problem solving. During the past decade, MiniZinc has been downloaded more than 250,000 times. 

Associate Professor Guido Tack, Monash University, said, “Optimisation means using resources in the best way possible. Think better rosters for hospital staff or more energy efficient delivery routes. But usually only experts know how to use optimisation algorithms. We created MiniZinc to make this technology more accessible.”

MiniZinc is supported by Monash University and the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Optimisation Technologies, Integrated Methodologies, and Applications (OPTIMA).

MRtrix3 Team

MRtrix3 software uses MRI scans to estimate the complex connectivity of the human brain white matter and its disturbance in disease. It goes beyond prior approaches, giving robust and biologically meaningful insight. It is now a research workhorse, cited in 2,000 scientific articles since 2018. 

Dr Jacques-Donald Tournier, King’s College London, said, “Globally, MRtrix3 is used to study brain development, and diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Epilepsy. It enables neurosurgeons to perform pioneering procedures safely and effectively, with improved outcomes for patients. It’s even been used by the European Space Agency to study the effects of space travel.”

MRtrix3 is supported by The Florey, The University of Melbourne, King’s College London, Universiteit Antwerpe’s Vision Lab, KU Leuven, NYU School of Medicine and the National Imaging Facility, a national research infrastructure facility supported by the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

Professor Gordon Smyth, WEHI

Professor Gordon Smyth is the lead developer of the world’s most downloaded software package of its type – Limma – which has been used to make biomedical discoveries published in more than 70,000 scientific papers. Limma helps identify and interpret changes in DNA material, significantly improving the confidence in statistical information used in biomedical research.

Professor Gordon Smyth said, “For over 20 years, my group has developed the limma software package to detect changes in gene activity – something fundamental for understanding how diseases arise. Limma uses advanced statistical methods to ensure reliable results.”

We thank all those who entered the competition.

The new Eureka Prize is part of the ARDC’s national agenda to recognise research software as a first-class research output. 

Watch the Eureka Prizes on 4 September 2024 – register for the live stream. For more research software news, subscribe to the ARDC newsletter.

The ARDC is funded through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) to support national digital research infrastructure for Australian researchers.